TY  - JOUR
AU  - Stulz,Rene M.
AU  - Williamson,Rohan
TI  - Culture, Openness, and Finance
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8222
PY  - 2001
Y2  - April 2001
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8222
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8222.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Rene M. Stulz
The Ohio State University
Fisher College of Business
806A Fisher Hall
Columbus, OH 43210-1144
Tel: 614/292-1970
Fax: 614/292-2359
E-Mail: stulz_1@cob.osu.edu

Rohan Williamson
Georgetown University
Finance Group
McDonough School of Business
587 Hariri Building
Washington, DC 20057
Tel: 202 687 2284
Fax: 202 687 4031
E-Mail: WILLIARG@georgetown.edu
AB  - Religions have little to say about shareholders but have much to say about creditors. We find that the origin of a country's legal system is more important than its religion and language in explaining shareholder rights.  However, a country's principal religion helps predict the cross-sectional variation in creditor rights better than a country's openness to international trade, its language, its income per capita, or the origin of its legal system. Catholic countries protect the rights of creditors less than other countries, and long-term debt is less important in these countries. A country's openness to international trade mitigates the influence of religion on creditor rights. Religion and language are also important predictors of how countries enforce rights.
ER  -